Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has confirmed a decision by the federal court in Anchorage that revised punitive damages awarded in the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident from $4 billion to $4.5 billion plus interest. “The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has twice vacated Judge Holland’s decisions in this matter. This is exactly why ExxonMobil argued before...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – The government has given state oil and gas company PT Pertamina six months to restructure its subsidiaries or else it must sell or liquidate them, said Pertamina commissioner Syafruddin Temenggung. The decision followed Pertamina’s extraordinary shareholders meeting last week, Temenggung said. He said the restructuring is part of turning Pertamina into a...

China’s CNOOC Limited said that its wholly-owned subsidiary CNOOC Muturi Limited has signed a sale and purchase agreement with BG Group to acquire a 20.767% interest in the Muturi Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for US$98.1 million. The purchase will increase CNOOC Limited’s interest in the Muturi PSC from 44% to 64.767%, and its interest in...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Tenaga Nasional Bhd is exploring the possibility of buying Northern Utility, an independent power producer (IPP) based in the north of Peninsular Malaysia, chairman Awang Adek Hussin said. “We are still in discussion. If it makes sense to buy (the company) at a reasonable price, then we will consider it,” he...

LIBREVILLE (AFX) – French oil company Total Gabon and China’s Unipec, a subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), last week signed a contract under which Gabonese crude will be sold to China for the first time, officials said. “It’s a significant annual contract in terms of quantity,” said the director general of Total...

This year’s APPEC, Asia’s oldest oil conference, will be organised by Ace Conferences & Events Pte Ltd. The event was previously organised by Times Conferences & Exhibitions. Patrick Soh, who worked for Times Conferences & Exhibitions, has joined Ace as Director of Events. He can be contacted on tel (65) 67411578. Email: patrick@ace-events.com.sg....

SYDNEY (AFX-ASIA) – Diversified resources group BHP Billiton said its total petroleum products output in the second quarter to December was up 1% year-on-year to 30.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), although that figure was 6% below the first quarter result. In its quarterly production report, BHP Billiton said total production for the second...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) Ð Shares of PT Medco Energi Internasional has been trading higher amid speculation that the company is preparing to issue bonds, dealers said. “There is a speculation that the company will conduct a roadshow for a bond issue in the near future,” said an institutional dealer with a regional brokerage. The speculation was...

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) – China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Yangtze River delta to import gas from an Australian field that its listed unit, CNOOC Ltd (HK 0883; NYSE CEO), is negotiating to buy into, the South China Morning Post reported. CNOOC Ltd hopes to...

Singapore-based China Aviation Oil (CAO) has paid US$21.7 million for a 24.5% stake in South China Bluesky Aviation Oil from UK’s Fortune Oil. It will also issue Fortune Oil 37.76 million new shares, or 5.2% of CAO’s enlarged shares outstanding, and will issue options to buy 26 million new shares at S$1.60 per share. The...

LONDON (AFX) – The Oil industry is facing the threat of environmental litigation after studies revealed the full extent of Exxon Mobil Corp’s greenhouse gas emissions, campaigners and lawyers claimed. According to the studies, cited by Friends of the Earth and conducted by independent experts in the US and New Zealand, the world’s biggest oil...

Japanese engineering company Chiyoda Corporation has affirmed that it expects to earn profit of 5 billion on revenue of 200 billion yen for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2004. For the first nine months of the year, it said: “As expected, total new orders were 255.9 billion yen, representing 91% of the fiscal...

MOSCOW (AFX) – World Bank chief James Wolfensohn said the Yukos case does not represent a shift in Russian policy, downplaying fears that the affair heralded a re-examination of controversial post-Soviet privatizations. “Issues such as Yukos cause commentary and concern,” he told reporters at the end of a recent visit to Moscow. But “I don’t...

Thailand’s Ministry of Energy (MoE) said it may decide to float the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the second quarter of this year, saying a suitable pricing range for LPG should be lower than US$250 per tonne. According to Business Day, Metta Banterngsuk, a director of the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo),...

Australian upstream company Santos Limited said its revenues for the 12 months to December 31 2003 was “virtually steady” at A $1,465 million reflecting higher average prices across most products, despite the 26% appreciation in the Australian dollar against the US dollar over the year. (US$1=A$1.3). Santos said total full year sales revenue was down...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Rizal Commercial Banking Corp said its board of directors has approved to increase its investments in Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp, the country’s second largest oil company. In a disclosure, RCBC said it will buy an additional 1.35 million common shares of the oil firm for a total purchase price of 43.3 million...

Singapore’s Keppel FELS Limited (KFELS) has divested its entire 75% interest in ENSCO Enterprises Limited (JVC) for US$95 million in cash. The buyer is US-based ENSCO Offshore International Company (ENSCO), a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated. Keppel said it made a net gain of US$13 million (US$1 = S$1.7) or 2.8 Singapore cents per Keppel...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – Oil rig operator PT Apexindo Pratama Duta said its shareholders have approved a management proposal to convert the company’s US$42 million compensation payment to affiliate PT Medco Energi Finance Overseas BV (MEFO) into a five-year loan facility. The decision was made at a recent special shareholders meeting. “Market regulation requires us to...

US energy company Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) said it expects capital expenditures by its subsidiaries for 2004 to reach US$1.93 billion, excluding $80 million of capitalised interest. The investment plan compares with an estimated $1.66 billion in capital expenditures, which excluded approximately $60 million in capitalised interest for 2003. For 2004, Unocal said it expects...

Manila (AFX-Asia) — The Philippines’ Department of Energy (DoE) said it is to award a US$4 million drilling contract to Singapore-based Gas to Grid Pte Ltd (G2G), the second petroleum service contract (SC) to be signed this year. Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said G2G managing director David Alistair Munns signed the seven-year SC, which covers...

SHANGHAI (AFX-ASIA) – China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), under investigation after an explosion at one of its gas fields killed 243 people, is planning a new safety campaign, the official Xinhua news agency said. China’s biggest oil company will commemorate the date of the blow-out every December 23 with a “safe production caution day” at...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) – Petronas Dagangan Bhd has entered into a joint venture agreement with Assar Senari Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd to operate and manage an automated bulk petroleum terminal in Kuching in Sarawak state. Under the agreement, Petronas Dagangan will take a 20% stake in the joint venture company IOT Management...

MANILA (AFX-ASIA) – Petron Corp is set to complete before the end of the year the construction of its 5.4-billion peso isomerisation and hydrotreater facility that would enable the country’s largest oil refiner to produce environment-friendly fuels, company officials said. (US$1=56 peso). “We are on schedule. We will finish the desulphurisation and hydrotreater plants by...

JAKARTA (AFX-ASIA) – State oil and gas company PT Pertamina said a boost in oil and gas production coupled with higher world crude oil prices may lift its 2004 full-year net profit to 5.38 trillion rupiah from an estimated 3.9 trillion last year. (US$1=8,500 rupiah). Pertamina president Ariffin Nawawi said the company plans to raise...

State Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) has set a target of producing 17.5 million tonnes of crude oil and 5.74 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2004. According to state VNA, the company is seeking more foreign investments to exploit the country’s newly discovered offshore oil fields and local investors to explore in...